Timeline for A calculus book that uses differentials?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
16 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 13, 2020 at 23:27 | comment | added | Mike Shulman | I am accepting this answer because whatever its other merits or flaws may be, this book does, I believe, come the closest to the sort of thing I was looking for when I asked the question. Especially the honest treatment of the second derivative! | |
| Mar 13, 2020 at 23:24 | vote | accept | Mike Shulman | ||
| Feb 2, 2020 at 21:28 | comment | added | johnnyb | 3) "conversational style. In your estimation, has this affected the size of the book?" Absolutely. I mean, if you want it really concise, I've got an appendix that has Algebra in six pages and Calculus in three. The point of the book is to teach students. It's written to learn from. I think you would have to read it to know if it is a style you like, but I get a lot of positive feedback from my students. Also, when the test is tomorrow, the number of pages doesn't matter, only the understandability of those pages. I've had 3 pages that took longer to read than 20 that were explained well. | |
| Feb 2, 2020 at 21:24 | comment | added | johnnyb | As far as Kindle unlimited, it did not give me that option (probably because of the price). If you are looking to use this somewhere, I'm happy to send you a physical copy. As for your questions: 1) it can be easily derived without calculus - there's a lot of things can be derived in multiple ways. The fact that there is more than one way to do it is not very relevant. 2) "Abstract slopes are no more tangible to students than limits". Not really. Students coming into calculus spent a lot of time with slopes when studying lines. This is already something they are familiar with. | |
| Jan 30, 2020 at 21:46 | comment | added | Rusty Core | In the intro you say that the book is written in a conversational style. In your estimation, has this affected the size of the book? It is 400+ pages long. Could it be condensed into, say, 200 pages, but with more concise language? Not everyone enjoys reading textbooks written like novels, especially when a test is tomorrow (it is always tomorrow). "The book is written in a way I would talk in my class" - Strang's book, written in a way he talks in his class, is an incoherent stream of conscience. The Thompson's is also written in a relatively relaxed style, but feels quite tight. | |
| Jan 30, 2020 at 21:42 | comment | added | Rusty Core | "Derivatives are introduced through extensive practical work on evaluating slopes" - if physics was a standard course in American schools, you would be calculating speed and distance of non-uniform motion, introducing derivative and integral in one simple real-life example. In fact, you can still do that without referring to a physics course. Abstract slopes are no more tangible to students than limits. | |
| Jan 30, 2020 at 21:41 | comment | added | Rusty Core | Any way making the book available for Kindle Unlimited program? I skimmed through the intro of the book available on Amazon. In the intro you say that the equation of non-uniform motion should be memorized unless one knows calculus, in which case it can be easily derived. Well, in the case of constant acceleration (this is how you wrote it) it can be easily derived without calculus, so calculus may seem like a hammer that can be used for any nail, large and small. | |
| Jan 29, 2020 at 13:00 | comment | added | johnnyb | @RustyCore - I added some details for you! Also note that, at the moment, while there is a Kindle edition, for some reason it is not linked to the main book, but can be found by searching. A solution guide is also available, which gives detailed workings of each problem in the book. | |
| Jan 29, 2020 at 12:59 | history | edited | johnnyb | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
A commenter asked for a list of things that made the book different.
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| Jan 28, 2020 at 22:29 | comment | added | Rusty Core | The links goes straight to Amazon, where the "author, teacher, researcher and computer programmer" offers a book upending "the general method of calculus training" that have been "set in stone for the last hundred years," but offers no preview. There are many books that leave out limits for later - or never introduce them - like a century-old classic by Silvanus Thompson, which can be accessed free online and which is mentioned by the author. It would be lovely if the author briefly explained the differences and benefits of his book compared to similar books, not to dissimilar ones. | |
| Jan 28, 2020 at 16:32 | comment | added | johnnyb | Thanks for the help, Chris! | |
| Jan 27, 2020 at 20:59 | comment | added | Chris Cunningham | (Obviously feel free to rework or revert what I wrote, but mentioning that you are the author is just good practice.) | |
| Jan 27, 2020 at 20:57 | comment | added | Chris Cunningham | @johnnyb I made an edit to the answer -- does this seem accurate to you? It puts some words in your mouth but I believe it makes it pretty clear that your answer isn't some kind of low-effort spam post. | |
| Jan 27, 2020 at 20:56 | history | edited | Chris Cunningham | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Tried to make it clear that this isn't spam
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| Jan 27, 2020 at 1:07 | comment | added | johnnyb | I am indeed the author. I'm not sure how it is spam, if the person is literally asking for book recommendations that exactly match the book I am suggesting. | |
| Jan 26, 2020 at 15:13 | history | answered | johnnyb | CC BY-SA 4.0 |